We dont want forget 2011 45 injured in battle with police as pregnant woman shot in stomach Dr Besigye (C) is dragged out of the trench. PHOTO BY ISAAC KASAMANI By Monitor Team (email the author) Top of Form Bottom of Form Posted Friday, April 15 2011 at 00:00 At least 47 people injured in yesterday’ day-long opposition ‘walk-to-work’ demonstrations were by last night admitted to Mulago Hospital with those who sustained gunshot wounds, among them seven-months-pregnant Brenda Nalwendo, reported to be in grave condition. Forum for Democratic Change party leader, Kizza Besigye, whom a combined force of military and regular police overpowered, together with his marching supporters at Kasangati trading centre, had a digit of his right hand broken after he was reportedly hit by a rubber bullet. Defiance He was treated at Kampala Hospital in Kololo, a city suburb. “I am not worried and I am going to demand my rights whatever it takes, however long,” Dr Besigye told this newspaper when still holed up in a roadside drain in Kasangati. The Uganda Red Cross said seven-month pregnant Ms Nalwendo who was shot in Kajjansi was in critical condition. Mulago Hospital spokesman Dan Atwijukire told Daily Monitor last evening that she was in stable condition after surgery. “The stray bullet hit her stomach,” said Catherine Ntabadde, assistant director of communications with the Uganda Red Cross. “We rushed her to Mulago, she is in theatre – we hope the situation gets better, but she was in terrible condition.” Police Spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said Kampala Metropolitan chief John Kato had been hospitalised after angry demonstrators clobbered him. Three other uniformed men, one of them a military officer, were reported injured. Sporadic violence erupted in the northern Gulu town last evening and soldiers at the nearby UPDF 4th Division headquarters pulled out in armoured cars and poured onto the streets and began shooting randomly to disperse residents protesting the arrest of district chairman, Norbert Mao. Following a futile attempt to keep Mr Mao in custody in the face of unrelenting fight by a charged crowd, police last night reportedly dropped the Democratic Party leader/former presidential candidate, off at his home within town. Like the violence that paralysed Metropolitan Kampala, Mukono, Jinja, Buikwe, Masaka, Hoima and Mbarara towns, pro-opposition supporters in Gulu also barricaded roads and lit bonfires in running battles with police and the army that exploded teargas and let loose volleys of bullets into the night sky. Arrested MPs Security operatives in some instances lobbed teargas canisters in shops and homes, particularly in Kasangati, Kampala’s Bwaise neighbourhood and Jinja town, forcing out occupants whom they later clobbered or arrested. Last night, police announced in Kampala that they had taken into custody some 220 suspected demonstrators, among them six Members of Parliament and top political party figures. Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi, his Kumi Constituency counterpart Patrick Amuriat, Mukono Municipality MP-elect Betty Nambooze, Kitgum District Woman MP Beatrice Anywar, Erias Lukwago and Isa Kikungwe of Kampala Central and Kyandondo South respectively, were charged at various courts but released on bail. Grade I magistrate James Mwondha remanded JEEMA party officials; Asuman Basalirwa and Mohammed Kibirige to Luzira Prison and are expected back at Nabweru Court later today. Journalists’ work tale Bottom of Form Isaac Kasamani & Mercy Nalugo Bottom of Form Posted Friday, April 15 2011 at 00:00 At 6am I left home for Dr Kizza Besigye’s residence in Kasangati, Wakiso District, where I arrived at 6:22am. Shortly after reaching Besigye’s home, the Colonel began his walk-to-work march, accompanied by two aides. I joined them together with a NBS Television journalist and another from Reuters. When we reached Kasangati town, 2 kilometres from Dr Besigye’s house, police began chasing us, forcing Besigye and us to jump into a trench. All of a sudden Besigye was surrounded by more than 30 policemen as more of his supporters began building up at the scene. The residents wrestled with the police, blocking them from arresting Besigye. The police began teargassing and spraying water on us; I was in the side drain with Besigye. We were suffocating. That was about 7am. I began taking photos. Besigye supporters began pelting police with stones. RELATED STORIES • Oil agreements case pushed to September • Journalists petition UN over right to expression • Besigye’s walk to work: A minute by minute account of his ordeal • Was Besigye hit by a rubber bullet, and who fired it? • Mbale boss mobilises NRM supporters for walk-to-work • Chaos and bloodshed in Kasangati as police block Besigye walk again There was serious stalemate – everything was ominous. We kept in the trench up to 10:51am. In between, I connected our senior reporter, Tabu Butagira, to interview Dr Besigye by telephone hook-up for an interview. Dr Besigye left the trench and started moving towards Kampala followed by his supporters. But just under 300 metres in his trek, we came across a military police blockade and heard gun shots. The crowd scattered and I realised Dr Besigye had been hit. I heard screams of pupils of Wampewo Primary School. I went to the school and found children crying. I entered the classroom and found one of the children, an asthmatic, being given an inhaler by a teacher. Teargas had exploded in their midst, suffocating them. A Red Cross official came in and carried the child away for treatment. ============================== Mercy Nalugo I arrived at Democratic Party president Norbert Mao’s home in Ntinda, Ministers’ Village for the walk-to-work campaign at 7am. I was later joined by other journalists and DP supporters and we waited for the day’s trek with the DP leader back to the city centre. We vainly stood outside Mao’s house waiting for him for two hours. After waiting for two hours, we rang DP authorities who told us that Mao had changed his programme and was already leading a walk-to-work” campaign in Gulu. We decided to walk back to the city centre without Mao. The DP youth led us and we walked towards Ntinda town. Meanwhile, police had deployed heavily from Mao’s residence to Ntinda trading centre in anticipation that they would probably net him even before he could get to the busy city suburb of Ntinda. The policemen stopped us briefly and later allowed us to continue. Passersby were, however, sympathising with us and encouraging us to walk on as they promised to join us later. It was in Ntinda town that a group of rowdy youths joined us. While we were approaching Kamwokya, we boarded a taxi back to office. WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Tear Gas, Chaos and bloodshed on day 2 Police officer Mugalya 2324 (L) attached to Jinja Road Police Station pushes journalists from the police station to stop them from covering the arrests during a walk to work campaign on April 14. Photo by Joseph Kiggundu. WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Tear Gas, Chaos and bloodshed on day 2 Caught in the escalating stand off between the Police and walk to work demonstrators, Ibrahim Batte was hit by a stray stone as he tried to find his way back home. Photo by Patience Ahimbisibwe. WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Tear Gas, Chaos and bloodshed on day 2 Dr. Besigye speaks to the press after receiving first aid treatment at Kampala Hospital in Kololo on his injured hand which a rubber bullet grazed during the Walk to Work demonstrations. HomeNewsNational NATIONAL WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Was Besigye hit by a rubber bullet, and who fired it? Bottom of Form A woman who is suspected to have been shot when police opened fire in Kajjansi along Entebbe road lies prostrate on the ground. Photo Ismail Kezaala. By Tabu Butagira (email the author) Top of Form Bottom of Form Posted Thursday, April 14 2011 at 01:01 Police and military are giving conflicting accounts of what happened to opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, in the Thursday ‘Walk-to-Work’ fracas at Kasangati in Wakiso District. Whereas Army Spokesman, Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye, says Dr Besigye was “not hurt at all”, Police publicist Judith Nabakooba says “something else, not a bullet” glazed his finger. Our Reporter, John Njoroge, who is now at Kampala Hospital in Kololo, says doctors at the medical facility conclude after an X-ray examination that a rubber bullet shattered the third digit of Dr Besigye’s right arm. RELATED STORIES • Anger in Parliament over Besigye shooting • WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Live updates • Chaos and bloodshed in Kasangati as police block Besigye walk again “He has walked out of the hospital room and is smiling,” Mr Njoroge says. Three truckloads of regular and military police have besieged the Hospital from Athina Club junction. Their intention is not clear. Military Police Spokesman, Lt. Dennis Omara, says their men were called by regular police after rowdy protesters began barricading roads and lighting bonfires. “It is the regular police that are in the lead, we have just come in as a back-up because of the security situation. We are now opening the roads so people can freely go to the city centre,” he says. Accounts offered by the army indicate the situation spiraled out of control after a civilian began strangling a policeman he wanted to disarm, and a bullet went out, injuring the civilian who was taken for treatment at Mulago Hospital. “Nothing happened to Besigye at all; that he was shot is a lie,” says Lt. Col. Kulayigye. Meanwhile, Ms Judith Nabakooba says Kampala Metropolitan CID chief John Kato has been booked into an unnamed health facility after demonstrators clobbered him. The Thursday commotion and subsequent shooting has forced the American Mission in Kampala to cancel a scheduled Journalists’’ round table with Ambassador Jerry Lanier, according to Public Affairs Officer, Joann Lockard. Rukungiri protests shooting of Besigye, police intervention paralyzes town By Monitor Reporter (email the author) Top of Form Bottom of Form Posted Friday, April 15 2011 at 13:59 FDC supporters in Rukungiri district in Western Uganda are battling with police who are attempting to block their peaceful protest march against the shooting of FDC party president Dr Kizza Besigye during a walk to work campaign in Kampala on Thursday. Dr Besigye is born from Rukungiri district. One of his fingers was shattered by a rubber bullet as he had running battles with security forces which stopped him from walking to Najjanankumbi. Daily Monitor correspondent in Rukungiri Frankfurt Kuheisa says protests led by Rukungiri Municipality MP –elect Rolland Kaginda and Mayor Charles Bakuru started at 11 am today. Police is firing rubber bullets and opening tear gas on the protesters. All shops have closed. No arrests so far. Anger in Parliament over Besigye shooting Bottom of Form Posted Friday, April 15 2011 at 00:00 Lawmakers yesterday turned rowdy as others sounded war drums following the shooting of the main opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, in an emotional House debate dominated by calls for action against perpetrators of violence and economic challenges facing the country. While the government accused the opposition of sustaining a campaign to smear President Museveni’s swearing-in ceremony scheduled for May 12 in an attempt to hijack the peoples verdict, Kasilo County MP Elijah Okupa described the ruling NRM as a fruit that has failed to fall when it its ripe. He said a fruit will ultimately fall when it’s rotten. Govt blamed Lawmakers across the political spectrum, united in blaming the government, and the police leadership in particular, for using violence against opposition leaders and civilians walking to work. The lawmakers said this was an attempt to disguise the national discontent over economic problems. A contentious government statement read by Internal Affairs Minister Kirunda Kivejinja that was meant to soothe the explosive situation instead roused more anger as lawmakers roundly attacked the government for reportedly doing nothing to tackle the skyrocketing prices. But Mr Kivejinja said: “The walk-to-work demonstration had nothing to do with the current oil and commodity prices … the demonstrations were part of a hate-government campaign. It was for this reason, therefore, that police were instructed to disallow those activities.” Even though the Police Spokesperson Judith Nabakooba apologised to the pupils of Kasangati Primary School who were teargassed during the walk-to-work campaign on Monday, in his statement Mr Kivejinja said: “Some of the so-called walkers when engaged by police decided to run into schools and a health centre to use children and patients as human shields.” The opposition rejected the claim by the minister and accused the government of a cover-up. To the opposition MPs, the manner in which Dr Besigye and others were manhandled on Monday and his subsequent shooting in the hand yesterday was too much to bear. “Shooting Dr Besigye will not solve the problems the country is facing. You can kill Dr Besigye but you will not shoot the crisis the people are facing,” Alice Alaso (Soroti Woman) said. Aruu MP Odonga Otto said: “Every day police is killing Ugandans. You can say I am emotional because I am an Acholi, but was that student they killed in Rubanda West an Acholi? In one week, police have killed three innocent people and they wanted to finish off Dr Besigye too.” Mr Otto also accused the junior health minister, James Kakooza of attempting to kill Dr Besigye after it emerged that he was allegedly noticed pretending to be a Red Cross volunteer so as to get nearer to the wounded opposition leader. But Mr Kakooza denied the allegations saying he was on a rescue mission. For failure to condemn the police for shooting Dr Besigye, brutalising the opposition leaders and people walking to work in Kivejinja’s statement, Aswa MP Reagan Okumu warned the government of the consequences. ‘Provocation’ “You are provoking the country into war by covering police acts. Every citizen has a right to complain when things are not good. There is a crisis and majority of Ugandans are suffering.” He added: “What the country needs is an apology; I have seen how my party president was shot and the number of people suffering in Mulago Hospital. When people are in power they get mad because power corrupts.” Last week, opposition leaders launched a walk-to-work campaign in solidarity with the rest of Ugandans who are suffering because of high commodity prices. The campaign took effect on Monday, a day when Dr Besigye and other opposition figures were arrested and charged with inciting violence and disobeying lawful orders. Justine Kasule Lumumba (Bugiri Woman, NRM) said: “We in the NRM should handle this issue with the spirit of modern democracy that today you are in government and tomorrow in the opposition. What is happening today could be some of the reasons that pulled down former governments,” she said. “I request my colleagues to bear in mind that if you are the one in the opposition and demonstrated, would you have loved to be handled the way they were? The NRM should show the voters that government feels for them.” Christine Abia (Arua Woman) said: “Ever since another army man (Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura) came to head the police, we have seen nothing but anarchy in the Force. We actually miss the former IGP (Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala). Walk-to-work is a serious statement to show that the government has abandoned the people.” House adjourned The House was prematurely adjourned after angry lawmakers began booing the planning minister Ephraim Kamuntu for claiming that the walk has never been an answer to the escalating prices, a response many lawmakers described as mockery of the poor. While the government told Parliament that causes of inflation were beyond their control, Ms Alaso warned: “Hungry Ugandans will be difficult to manage. The sooner the government listens and deals with the root causes of the problems, the better. People will continue walking to work until government responds to the high prices.” cap: Dr Besigye is escorted by his supporters yesterday. PHOTO BY ISAAC KASAMANI HomeNewsNational NATIONAL Government bans live broadcast of events Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Posted Friday, April 15 2011 at 00:00 The government last evening moved to curtail major broadcasting houses when it banned live broadcast of news events around the walk-to-work campaign. BBC’s Joshua Mali told Daily Monitor that a senior source at one of the TV stations affected spoke to him on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) reportedly directed radio and television stations to stop running live coverage of the events. In its 6pm bulletin, the BBC reported that a verbal instruction had been issued by UCC. Mr Mali said the source revealed that they were told if any of the TV stations that has been carrying live coverage refused to heed the directive, they risked their licence being revoked. “One of the TV stations confirmed to me in confidentiality that they were told they were not going to broadcast live events but would only give updates,” Mr Mali said. NTV, NBS and a host of other private radio stations have carried live news from the campaign since Monday. Peter Mwesige, a media consultant and trainer, called the directive to broadcasters “absolutely ridiculous”. “If it is true, it would be a profound violation to freedom of expression and the right of the people to know what is taking place around them and how they are governed,” he said. “You should absolutely defy it. It is illegal. It is unconstitutional.” Meanwhile, Internet access for some companies including Daily Monitor was interrupted for some time yesterday afternoon. As a result, this newspaper’s ability to update its website and other web-based media with live feeds was compromised. Daily Monitor could not reach UCC boss Godfrey Mutabazi as well as ICT Minister Aggrey Awori and Information Minister Kabakumba Masiko as their known phones were switched off all day long EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Besigye speaks to Monitor from trenches, says he’s unhurt Bottom of Form RATING Anti riot Police struggle to put out a fire lit in the middle of the road during the Walk to Work demonstrations in Bwaise. Photo by Yusuf Muziransa Bottom of Form Posted Thursday, April 14 2011 at 11:56 “The police tried to take me onto their pickup by force but the people around me shoved them away, so I am still in the trench in Kasangati trading centre,” opposition politician says in a telephone interview. Dr Besigye says he has not been roughed up or beaten by police as it happened on Monday, but he is not yielding to “oppressive forces”. The retired army Colonel, a three-time presidential contender, tells Monitor’s Tabu Butagira: “I am still here in the road trench with many anti-riot police, their trucks and other complicated equipments surrounding us. I am not worried; I am going to demand my rights whatever it takes, however long”. RELATED STORIES • Ugandan Military Police closes in on Besigye • Chaos and bloodshed in Kasangati as police block Besigye walk again Our photographer Isaac Kasamani is holed up with the opposition politician in the trench, and describes the situation as worrying. There is a stalemate in the trading centre which is roughly two kilometers away from Dr Besigye’s residence (Details of Dr Besigye interview will run in Daily Monitor print version). Daily MonitorEducation Editor, Charles Mwanguhya, who is heading to Kasangati says youthful activists in Lutete trading centre, some two kilometers from Kasangati, have barricade about 200-metre stretch of the road with boulders. Police are exploding tear gas canisters and cracking live bullets to disperse a crowd of unrelenting youth WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Ugandan Military Police closes in on Besigye Bottom of Form RATING Several people seated in a huddle after being stopped and detained by the Anti riot Police in Bwaise. Photo by Yusuf Muziransa Bottom of Form Posted Thursday, April 14 2011 at 12:16 Ugandan Army soldiers are charging on a crowd of Dr Besigye and his supporters shortly after police deployed at Kasangati let them walk. The military is walking towards us vigorously, Besigye supporters are behind us. I dont know whether the Red caps (military police) have a different instruction from the police that allowed us to proceed. I dont know how it is going to all end, says our reporter John Njoroge by telephone. There are many Uganda Red Cross Society ambulances behind the military line. The crowd is approaching the Wampewo-Mailo junction, some 2 kilometres from Kasangati, where police depolyed at Lutete trading centre appear to have given up on the running battles with youth that has barricaded about 200-metre stretch of the road. WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Live updates Bottom of Form RATING Supporters of Dr. Besigye examine the rubber bullet wound in his right hand after he was shot by the Military Police in Bottom of Form Posted Thursday, April 14 2011 at 17:20 1730 EAT: The magistrate has insisted and grants Maj. Rubaramira Ruranga a bail by force. Maj. RubaramiraandNandala Mafabi had refused to apply for bail saying it was a waste of time as they were arrested on their way to Kampala. Court bursts out in laughter. Nandala Mafabi next in dock. 1720 EAT: Kampala Lord Mayor-elect Erias Lukwago has been released on interim bail by Makindye magistrate’s court where he was charged with the alleged traffic offence of failure to comply with lawful orders and direction of police officer in uniform. The outgoing Kampala Central MP denied the charges and remained steadfast in his solidarity with the walk to work campaign. The same court also released Forum for Democratic Change vice president Salaam Musumba and Mr Asuman Odaka who were charged with allegedly failing to obey lawful orders contrary to the Penal Code Act. 1630 EAT: Mukono North member of Parliament, Betty Namboze, has been denied bail by Mukono Grade One magistrate Ruth Nabasa. Ms Nambooze was charged with allegedly participating in a riotous assembly. The MP was walking to work in the campaign against high fuel prices and rising cost of living when she was arrested this morning at Bugujju trading centre just outside Mukono town. 1610 EAT: People traveling in and out of Lugazi town going to work found it hard after all taxi and Bodaboda cyclists refused to operate in support of walk to work campaign. These people especially those going to Kampala very early in the morning were forced to get back to their homes, while others decided to walk, saying that taxis will find them on the way,as they also show solidarity to the campaign. RELATED STORIES • Mao to sue govt over walk-to-work arrest • Chaos and bloodshed in Kasangati as police block Besigye walk again • I will walk to work today, says Besigye • Journalists’ work tale • Opposition leaders arrested • Donors attack govt over walk campaign 1510 EAT: Police has fired teargas and live bullets at Kampala’s Makindye Court to disperse a crowd that has converged to protest the arrest of opposition politicians. Outgoing Kampala Central member of Parliament, Erias Lukwago, who is also the Lord Mayor-elect for Kampala, along with Forum for Democratic Change vice president, Salaam Musumba, have been brought to Makindye Magistrate’s Court where it is believed they are going to be charged cor allegedly committing an, as yet, unknown offence. The politicians are among a large number of opposition politicians who were arrested this morning in a police swoop for participating in the walk-to-work campaign, a public protest against high fuel prices and the rising cost of living. 1500 EAT: The army has taken over Masaka town. Business came to a standstill in Masaka Town as police fought demonstrators that had chosen to walk to work on Thursday, April 14, 2011. It all started when about ten boda boda riders in Nyendo, (a Katwe-like suburb of Masaka) decided to push their bikes towards Masaka’s business main centre across Nakaiba Swamp. What appeared to be a small group however snowballed into a very big crowd that kept police confused by splitting into some five or so groups and taking different roots on different streets! Hundreds of people meanwhile abandoned their shops and lined up the streets to watch. The demonstrators kept on shouting that they were fed up with the ever increasing fuel prices. 1420 EAT: Daily Monitor correspondent in Masaka, Mr Issa Aliga, has been assaulted by UPDF soldiers who descended on the streets of Masaka town at about 2.00 p.m. after the police appeared to be failing to control the rampaging crowds. A military police officer hit Mr Aliga on the head with a big stick as he attempted to take pictures of the soldiers along Kampala Road. The soldiers descended on Mr Aliga, grabbed his camera and went away with it. Mr Aliga, who says he is bleeding from his wounds, is recording statement at Masaka Police. 1256 EAT: Betty Nambooze blocked from leaving Lugazi. She was walking to Mukono. The Mukono-Jinja highway has become impassable 1242 EAT: Opposition leader Dr Kiiza Besigye has been taken to Kampala hospital in Kololo 1238 EAT: Dr Besigye has been shot in the right hand after soldiers, who have taken over from police, opened fire. People pleading that they stop shooting 1220 EAT: Columns of heavily armed soldiers deploy in Kalerwe as situation gets out of hand with crowds join wal to work protests 1215 EAT: Besigye pulls out of trench, starts walking afresh: Retired UPDF Colonel and former personal physician to President Museveni is out of the trench and trekking with many supporters accompanying him, reports John Njoroge. The former Inter-Party Cooperation presidential flag bearer first sat under a tree at Kasangati health centre, before embarking on a second phase of the walk he began from his home at 6:30am on Thursday. More details follow shortly 1210 EAT: Kampala mayor-elect Erias Lukwago, Kitgum woman MP Beatrice Anywar, Kyadondo south MP Issa Kikungwe have been arrested. Kikungwe and Anywar are currently being taken to Entebbe magistrate court. One woman is reportedly shot dead by police as they attempted to quell a “walk-to-walk”demo in Kajansi, along Entebbe road. 1153 EAT: Police in Lugazi has taken siege of the tax park after drivers’ turned rowdy in protest of high prices of fuel and other commodities. Commotion started as tax drivers attempted to join a group of about 200 “walk-to-work” demonstrators, forcing police to act with force. 1125 EAT: FDC leaders Nandala Mafabi, Margaret Wokuri and Ann Mugisha have been arrested and taken to Jinja Road Police Station, according to Busongola South MP, Christopher Kibazanga. 1105 EAT: Police in Masaka is reported to be engaged in running battles with the motorcyclists who are trying to march in the town in protest of high prices for fuel and other commodities. The motorcyclists are reported to have destroyed the police patral vehicle which was pursuing them, forcing the force use teargas and live bullets. Our reporter in Masaka says the crowd of about 300 youth with no substantive leadership is now engaged in running battles with police in the town….more to follow. 1053 EAT: Vigilantes barricade access to Kasangati police station. Chaos and heavy shooting still ongoing as more supporters join to block Dr Besigye’s arrest by police. 1043 EAT: A group of men dressed in the uniform of Uganda Prisons arrive at the chaotic scene in Kasangati, says our reporter John Njoroge. It is unclear if they are prison warders since they ordinarily do not take part in crowd control or arresting suspects, unless they are fleeing prisoners. Opposition leaders arrested Bottom of Form RATING Bukholi Central MP-elect Wafula Oguttu is arrested yesterday in Kampala. PHOTO BY JOSEPH KIGGUNDU Bottom of Form Posted Tuesday, April 12 2011 at 00:00 Opposition politicians, including Dr Kizza Besigye and Mr Norbert Mao, were arrested yesterday morning and charged hours later with alleged incitement to cause violence and failure to obey lawful orders. A day earlier, Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura had said their walk-to-work campaign, to be staged every Monday and Thursday in solidarity with Ugandans suffering under the weight of sharply rising fuel and commodity prices, would not be allowed to take place. The opposition leaders, however, set off from their respective Kampala homes early in the day only to be stopped in their tracks by security personnel. RELATED STORIES • Opposition politicians charged over walking to work Dr Besigye, who was arrested with five aides, appeared before a fully packed Magistrate’s Court at Kasangati where he denied the charges. He had intended to walk to his office in Najjanankumbi but was stopped a kilometre from his home, leading to a fracas. “It is my right to walk to work,” Dr Besigye told the policemen. “As you talk to me, you are making money. I, on the other hand is losing money, so I need to get to work,” he added as he tried to push his way through the policemen. Dr Besigye was ordered onto a police pick-up truck but he declined, deciding to sit on the road. Shortly afterwards, CID Deputy Director Geoffrey Musana ordered that he be bundled onto the truck. Catholic Priest Fr Anthony Musala who was at the scene expressed dismay at how Dr Besigye was treated. “This is an infringement of people’s rights and of the rights of our brother. I am going to pray so that God intervenes ... We should be ready to fight for our freedoms. Our government should understand that this country is for all of us,” Fr Musala said. Police would later fire tear gas to disperse an angry crowd that gathered at Kasangatti Police Station where the FDC leader was detained. The people responded by pelting stones. FDC secretary general and Soroti Woman MP Alice Alaso, who was at the police station, accused the police of “turning into an instrument of brutality”. In Ntinda, former presidential candidate and Democratic Party president general Mao, was arrested and detained at Kiira Road Police Station. He had been stopped at Ntinda trading centre as he walked to work, with a crowd forming around him. “I am not guilty, I have not committed any offence,” Mr Mao told the police commander as he was arrested. In the eastern suburb of Nakawa, MPs-elect, Wafula Oguttu, Nandala Mafabi, Abdu Katuntu and Jack Sabiiti, were also detained after being roughed up. They were held at Jinja Road Police Station. Condemnation Maj. Gen. Kayihura described the arrests as “a few incidents in which persons involved in protests violated the law’. In a press conference, Uganda Peoples Congress leader Olara Otunnu yesterday said President Museveni and Maj. Gen. Kayihura should be held responsible for causing confusion in and around the city. Human rights organisations including Amnesty International condemned yesterday’s arrests of the opposition politicians. DemGroup called on government and police to be less paranoid about civil action. Amnesty’s researcher on Uganda, Dr Godfrey Odongo, said the disruption of peaceful protests and demonstrations and the ban on public rallies “violate the right to freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly provided for under Uganda’s Constitution and international law, to which Uganda is party”. Reported by John Njoroge, Emmanuel Mulondo, Philippa Croome, Mercy Nalugo, Annah Nafula and Richard Wanambwa Scenes from Uganda Elections 2011 For some it was a working day. UPDF soldiers patroling on the election day pictured walking from Kawempe side towards Kampala. Photo by Ismail Kezaala. Scenes from Uganda Elections 2011 Anti riot police moving around town centers in Moroto. Photo by Steven Ariong. HomeNewsNational NATIONAL Besigye’s walk to work: A minute by minute account of his ordeal Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Posted Friday, April 15 2011 at 00:00 6.27am-A cheerful Dr Besigye leaves his Kasangati home for his Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) office in Najjanankumbi, about 20 kilometres away. He is accompanied by Sam Mugumya his personal aide, Kyaddondo East MP-elect Ibrahim Semujju Nganda and three other aides. 6.47am- The entourage is intercepted by police officers in anti-riot gear less than 100 metres from the Kasangati police post. Dr Besigye is asked not to continue with his walk to work. He declines and continues. A crowd steadily begins to gather around him. 6.54am- At Kasangati Health Centre, Dr Besigye is blocked from proceeding. After a short verbal exchange with the officers, he decides to sit in a roadside trench. He is joined by Mr Mugumya and a large number of supporters forming a protective ring around him. Journalists struggle to take pictures and shoot videos. 7.30am- An unknown police officer joins Dr Besigye and his supporters in the trench. He tries in vain to convince Dr Besigye to either return to his home or be transported to work. The crowd numbers are swelling fast. They now occupy half the Gayaza Road. 8.30am- An hour-and-half into the stand-off, three Red Cross ambulances arrive at the scene to the jubilation of supporters. They are parked adjacent to a petrol station. The occupants remain in the ambulances. Youths begin to turn away vehicles. The road opposite the Kasangati Health Centre is totally blocked by protestors. MPs-elect Alice Alaso, Semujju Nganda and outgoing MP Sam Njuba engage police over the legality of their actions in blocking them from walking to work. 9.10am- Two more police pick-up trucks filled with anti-riot police, an anti-riot armoured vehicle and a water canon vehicle arrive on the scene. The crowd cheers them on. Shortly after, a police officer perched on a double cabin pick-up truck registration number UP-1222, attached to the Anti-Corruption Department vehicle fires a single gunshot into the air. There is sudden panic and the police fire stun grenades and teargas into the crowd which disperses immediately. Pandemonium breaks out. Those in the trench with Dr Besigye refuse to move. 9.30am- The water canon is moved next to the trench where Dr Besigye and his entourage are besieged. The officers spray into the clustered group in an attempt to drive them out of the trench. Dr Besigye and his supporters hold on to each other tightly. When the water canon is turned off, those in the trench are drenched, their feet under water to the ankle. 9.41Am- Scores more brave the teargas and return to the top of Dr Besigye’s trench. Several officers jump into the trench and attempt to remove him from the trench by force. The officers face stiff resistance from Dr Besigye’s supporters. They are overpowered but none of them is assaulted by the supporters. They climb out of the trench. 10.03am- Running battles between police and Dr Besigye’s supporters intensify. More teargas is fired in the surrounding areas, including into the Kasangati Health Centre and at Tender Talents Magnet School. Red Cross personnel rush to the nursery and primary school to find hundreds of children suffering from the effects of teargas. One girl, an asthmatic, collapses and is rushed to a waiting ambulance. A Red Cross attendant is sceptical about her survival. Angry youths erect barricades on either end of the Kasangati main road blocking the approaching anti-riot police. 10.53am- Still surrounded by his aides and supporters, a dirty and tear-gassed Besigye emerges from his road side trench. He settles under a tree in the Kasangati Health Centre compound. The determined supporters restrict advancing police officers from approaching Dr Besigye. Police are left to observe from the main road as scores more emerge from the surrounding buildings and form a human shield around Dr Besigye. 11.00am- Running battles continue as police try to push away scores of supporters who are trying to return to where Dr Besigye was. Scores more take refuge at the Kasangati court premises. Police remove barricades that had been set up near the Kasangati Police Post. Prisons officers from the nearby Prisons living quarters are seen reinforcing the regular police. They surround the Kasangati Court and close its gates. 11.21Am- Braving the teargas, scores more make their way to the Kasangati Health Centre. There is suspicion amongst the supporters as one person is seriously beaten and his NRM Yellow t-shirt torn. He is recued by police. Deputy Police Spokesperson Vincent Ssekate addresses the press at the scene. 11.31Am- Dr Besigye decides he wants to continue his walk to work. His supporters applaud him as he resumes his walk. The police do not restrict his movements. Instead, they offer the backs of their pick-up trucks to journalists if they wanted to photograph or film the crowd as it moves with Dr Besigye. 12.05pm- Dr Besigye and his supporters are besieged by military police less than a mile from Kasangati Health Centre. The crowd is dispersed with teargas, rubber bullets and batons. Dr Besigye is hit by a rubber bullet on the right hand, dislocating his middle finger which literally bends over almost falling off. Using his left hand, Dr Besigye holds onto his finger and gets off the road, taking refuge under a small tree. He is immediately surrounded by his aides and scores of supporters who form a protective ring around him. 1.00pm-Parts of the Kalerwe, Mpererwe area and the Northern By-pass are closed as police and youth engage in running battles. Police provide escorts to convoys of vehicles through some parts of the by-pass. Unconfirmed reports indicated that an Anti-riot police officer has been beheaded by an unknown person. John Kato, a CID officer is rushed to hospital after surviving death at the hands of youths. Dr Besigye is rushed to Kampala Hospital where doctors attend to him. 1.50pm- FDC MPs arrive at Kampala Hospital eager to see their leader. Some are allowed to have a quick word with him while others wait patiently, among them retired Army Commander Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu. Two pick-up trucks full of police officers are parked less than 100 metres from the hospital. It is believed that there are attempts to arrest Dr Besigye as soon as he leaves the hospital 2.17pm- A mud-splattered and tired looking Dr Besigye is allowed to speak to journalists about his walk to work ordeal. Even as he speaks in pain, he promises to walk-to -work next Monday. 5.23pm- Dr Besigye undergoes minor surgery on his right hand HomeNewsNational NATIONAL 220 people arrested over walk-to-work Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Posted Friday, April 15 2011 at 00:00 At least 220 people have been arrested countrywide in yesterday’s clashes between security forces and Ugandans who participated in the walk-to-work campaign in protest against rising food and fuel prices. The suspects are now detained in different police stations on various offences including alleged incitement of violence, disobeying lawful orders, blocking traffic flow and holding illegal assemblies. The walk-to-work campaign was organised by a pressure group Action 4 Change countrywide protesting high fuel prices and the rising cost of living. RELATED STORIES • I will walk to work today, says Besigye • WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Live updates • Besigye’s walk to work: A minute by minute account of his ordeal • Mbale boss mobilises NRM supporters for walk-to-work • Was Besigye hit by a rubber bullet, and who fired it? • Chaos and bloodshed in Kasangati as police block Besigye walk again Kampala led with 90 detained, 70 in Jinja District, three in Mukono District, 24 in Wakiso District and 20 suspects in Masaka District. An unknown number were also reportedly held in Mbarara, Soroti and Buikwe. Youths blocked roads using debris and burnt furniture in the middle of the roads upon receiving news of the shooting of Dr Besigye by security forces. Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba confirmed the arrest of 103 people in Kampala and Wakiso districts. “We have submitted most of the files of the suspects to the resident state attorneys in different areas so that we can take them to court before the mandated 48 hours expires,” she said yesterday I will walk to work today, says Besigye Bottom of Form RATING Dr Besigye speaks to the press at Kampala Hospital after receiving first aid treat for the injury to his hand sustained when hit by a rubber bullet during the walk to work demonstration. Photo by Yusuf Muziransa Bottom of Form Posted Thursday, April 14 2011 at 00:00 The ‘walk to work’ campaign will continue today as planned, opposition leaders said yesterday, despite a warning from police that the campaign was a procession and a demonstration. Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leader Kizza Besigye told this newspaper last evening he would be walking to his Najjanankumbi office this morning, more than 20 kilometres from his home in Kasangati. “I will walk to work tomorrow, without a doubt,” Dr Besigye told Daily Monitor, observing that it was his constitutional right to move freely in Uganda. Democratic Party (DP) president Norbert Mao will also walk to work in Gulu where he is the outgoing district chairman. By press time yesterday, Mr Mao was in Pader but was making his way to Gulu. The whereabouts of the Uganda Peoples Congress leader Olara Otunnu and Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA) leader Beti Kamya were unknown as they could not be reached by press time. RELATED STORIES • Donors attack govt over walk campaign • Uganda police arrest Besigye, Mao • Opposition insist on a walk demo • Heavy deployment as FDC launches pressure group Other party members confirmed they will be participating in the campaign today to carry on the protest against increased fuel and commodity prices in the country. Yesterday, Assistant Inspector General of Police Asan Kasingye addressed the media in Kampala and said the Force will stop the campaigners. “They do not respect the rights of other Ugandans,” Mr Kasingye said. “By publicising their desire to walk to work, they (opposition) were mobilising the public to join them,” he said, adding that this would eventually become a procession. Law on processions “There are laws governing processions. You need to define the number of people involved, the direction the group is taking and the starting and stopping time. They (opposition) did not have all these on Monday and do not have it to this moment,” Mr Kasingye said. He stopped short of revealing what action police would employ today to stop the walk. Police continues to insist the campaign will affect movement of traffic and the operation of the business community in the city. The opposition insist they are not breaking any law and are acting within their constitutional rights. Mr Kasingye said the police would not “sit back with folded arms over the actions of the opposition”. He also said police are open to dialogue with the opposition leaders. Budadiri West MP-elect Nandala Mafabi said he and his colleagues from the FDC would ignore the police and walk to work today. He insists he is not breaking any law by doing so. “I have a car but can no longer afford the fuel,” he told this newspaper yesterday, adding that it was his constitutional right to move freely. “If government does not want us to walk, let them provide buses with subsidised fares for every mwananchi or better still, subsidise the fuel prices,” Mr Mafabi demanded. Additional reporting by Philippa Croome WALK TO WORK CAMPAIGN: Chaos and bloodshed in Kasangati as police block Besigye again Bottom of Form RATING A man arrested from his shop by Anti Riot Police on Bwaise road. Photo by Patience Ahimbisibwe Bottom of Form Posted Thursday, April 14 2011 at 10:17 Opposition politician is halted in his trek to work a few kilometers from his residence, but angry residents take on the law enforcers sparking mayhem. Dr Kizza Besigye is holed up in a roadside trench where he sat in defiance of police orders to evacuate. About 70 supporters have now ring-fenced Dr Besigye, restraining police from being arrested. Scores have been arrested, handcuffed and beaten. Many more residents are dashing for shelter at the nearby Kasangati court. The sitaution spun out of control about 7am on Thursday after a policeman fired live bullets in the air as a warning shot to obstruct the Forum for Democratic Change party leader. RELATED STORIES • Ugandan Military Police closes in on Besigye • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Besigye speaks to Monitor from trenches, says he’s unhurt • 45 injured in battle with police as pregnant woman shot in stomach Now the whole village is under blanket security and filled with acrid smell of teargas, and many pupils have been injured in canister explosions at Tender Talent Magnet School. The commotion, in which supporters are wrestling police from arresting Besigye, is happening roughly some 150 metres away from Kasangati Police Station. A man dressed in a Yellow NRM T-shirt, and whom residents suspected to be a disguised security officer has been badly beaten, his clothes ripped apart, as the crowd charges over Besigye’s alleged manhandling. Unconfirmed reports say the first bloodied victim of the chaos has been taken to Mulago hospital with grave injuries. Police at the scene say they have ‘orders from above’, literary meaning the Executive in Ugandan speak, not to allow the three-time presidential candidate walk to town. Owing to random shooting, our reporter, together with other journalists, has taken cover behind the police station. Our photographer, Isaac Kasamani, who was in trenches where Dr Besigye lay when the chaos erupted, cannot be seen anymore and he is unable to receive telephone calls on his cell phone. “There is total confusion; some angry residents are pelting the police and have begun blocking the road with stones, chairs and boulders. But traffic is still flowing,” says our reporter, Njoroge who is at the scene. Two opposition leaders; Asuman Basalirwa and Kibirige Mayanja (JEEMA party officials) have reportedly been picked up and detained at Kawempe Police Station. This is the second day of clashes between police and opposition politicians in and around the capital Kampala following declaration by a non-partisan platform, Action-for-Change, to citizens to walk to work to show displeasure with government over inflation that has jumped to double digits in just a month. Prices of fuel, food and other basic commodities are spiraling beyond what ordinary Ugandans can afford and government is allegedly doing nothing to mitigate the dire situation, the campaigners say. The Monday showdown resulted in police brutalising Dr Besigye, Democratic Party’s Norbert Mao and several Members of Parliament, an operation widely condemned by Uganda’s leading development partners, lawyers and human rights activists as “unnecessary, arbitrary and highhanded”. Two killed in Gulu riots, 20 injured Publication date: Thursday, 14th April, 2011 Nobert Mao arguing with the Police on the streets of Gulu town yesterday By DENNIS OJWEE Two people were shot dead in Gulu on Thursday and 20 others sustained injuries when Police and soldiers from 4th division barracks tried to repulse demonstrators in Gulu town.. The dead were taking part in the demonstrations called by the opposition to protest against soaring fuel and commodity prices countrywide. Police confirmed that 2 people died during the six-hour riot. The identities of the dead could not readily be established by the press time but one of them was a vendor at Layibi market. The riot was sparked by the arrest of Democratic Party (DP) president, Norbert Mao. He was bundled onto a police patrol and driven towards Pece under heavy armed escorts. Mao was picked up after long heated arguments with the Gulu Criminal Investigations Departments (CID) boss, Moses Byabagye, and the District Police Commander, Moses Muluya, shortly after Mao launched a walk-to-work campaign. The DPC, Muluya, tried to calm the situation in vain as the people reacted by throwing stones at police and blocking the roads with logs of wood and stones. The Police by 6:30PM called for re-enforcement from the UPDF 4th division that responded with fire arms from armored vehicles and patrol army patrol vehicles. Gunfire rocked the town as businesses came to a standstill with some shops owned by Indians along the Gulu-Lacor-Juba road were reportedly looted. “I launched this walk- to- work as a symbol to all Ugandans to express our concern, not to war or to spark violence and we don’t want war”, Mao told the CID chief. Finally, the opposition has a chance THURSDAY, 14 APRIL 2011 08:29 BY ANDREW M.MWENDA Uganda is now caught up in the contradiction of extreme wealth alongside excessive poverty and extreme luxury alongside mass deprivation After a long period without any public issue around which to galvanise popular discontent in their favour, the opposition in Uganda has finally found one in the escalating food and transport costs. For the first time, the opposition is rallying the public on a grievance that touches the stomachs and wallets of millions and not one where it is merely fighting for power. Therefore the cat and mouse fight between them and the police has only begun and has potential to open the road to Tunisia and Egypt. Over the last 20 years, President Yoweri Museveni has set in motion policies that have fostered rapid economic growth and thereby laid the foundation for the structural transformation of Uganda. A few people are making large sums of cash reflected in fancy cars, magnificent homes, modern shopping malls and high rise office blocks. This has attracted large numbers of youth from rural areas seeking to take advantage of opportunities in towns. However, the number of immigrants into towns far exceeds available opportunities hence slums, unemployment and crime. Uganda’s growth has ignited a boom in education from both public and private institutions. In January, Daily Monitor reported that Uganda produces 400,000 graduates from tertiary institutions every year but the public sector can only take 20,000. Both education and urbanisation are liberating forces: beneficiaries gain access to local and international media. This expands their horizons which in turn increases their expectations. However, the growth in their aspirations tends to be faster than the growth in opportunities. The mismatch between expectations and available opportunities leads to social frustration. Human talent for innovation is not evenly distributed in any society; only a few tend to be exceptionally good. Thus, when governments liberalise the economy to allow for market competition and efficiency, those who reap the largest share of benefits are the ingenious; and in the case of a patronage system like ours, those who are politically well connected. The simple tend to lose out thus generating envy among them. Economic envy and social frustration are the stuff out of which revolutions are incubated. Therefore, Uganda is now caught up in the contradiction that characterises most rapidly growing economies of poor countries – the production of extreme wealth alongside excessive poverty and extreme luxury alongside mass deprivation. Since those who enjoy the high benefits of growth are few and those who are deprived are many, the political terrain tends to get charged. This is the common risk of all capitalist societies. In the 19th century, the uneven distribution of the material benefits of economic growth led to the development of ideologies such as socialism, communism and nihilism. These ideologies challenged the legitimacy of capitalism as a system of organising human affairs. Their political strength combined with the inherent structural instability of capitalism forced the Western world to create welfare states. Social welfare was a redistributive mechanism intended to make everyone a beneficiary of growth without making everyone’s benefits equal as communism had promised. Many people who support free market systems fail to understand the political and social value of some level of redistributive policies. For capitalism to survive, it needs to have a spirit – not just an abstract ideology of the inalienable right to the fruits of one’s innovation – but also the sense that everyone gains by the free market system. It is this value that is missing in Uganda because the system is too elite driven. There are hardly any successful social welfare programmes to make an ordinary person feel the benefits of growth. It is in this context that fuel and food prices have colluded to give the opposition an opportunity to challenge the status quo. Uganda’s opposition has consistently been opportunistic, always only coming out to struggle for access to power and privilege rather than to fight for the interests of the ordinary person. Now for the first time, they have got their act right. They have announced their determination to sustain a campaign to boycott motorised transport and walk to and from work daily. Symbolically, it shows their concern for the urban workers, unemployed and poor, not their desire for power. The rising cost of living, especially in Kampala is social dynamite waiting for a detonator. Even the most ardent supporters of NRM are feeling the pinch. It is going to be extremely difficult for NRM to ask Ugandans to tighten their belts when it is indulging in extravagant spending on sophisticated fighter jets worth over Shs 1.8 trillion. How can an economy that cannot feed its own people buy such expensive military-ware? To make matters worse, Uganda may not avoid the morale booster impact of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. Events in the Middle East have shown many that peaceful protest can bring down even the strongest government. Although the political system in Uganda is more open and competitive compared to Egypt and Tunisia before their revolution, we still suffer the sense that people cannot change government through elections. President Museveni has been in power forever and gives no indication of leaving. Museveni is in a catch 22 situation. If he allows the opposition leaders to walk to Kampala, they may attract large crowds. How far will they grow? Can the regime contain masses of discontented demonstrators? If it blocks them and holds them at police stations, for how long will it keep them: for a day, a week, a month? If it releases them and they try to walk again, it may be forced to jail them indefinitely thus turning them into martyrs and heroes. The future is always indeterminate. How the current political stand-off plays out will depend on how the opposition exploits every opportunity to put government on the defensive and how the regime addresses popular discontent in order to disconnect the masses from the opposition leaders. One measure may be to indulge in public acts that cast the government in the light of a caring patron. For instance, it can suspend buying fighter jets and claim that the money will be used to subsidize food and fuel prices. Then it can jail those accused of stealing CHOGM funds. It can also offer some relief bread to a few. Which way will it go? Stay tuned!
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 12:46:45 +0000
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